NEW DELHI: The US Deputy Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott, had not come with any package of incentives to lure India into accepting American nonproliferation agenda for India. This was disclosed by Salman Khursheed, the Minister of State for External Affairs.
Khursheed said that Talbott had not made any offers, but his visit was significant for the “atmospheres” which were “excellent.”
He said that the visiting American came across as a very “sensitive, sympathetic” person who has come with a “clear brief” from President Clinton. “But there were no extraneous punches that one associates with American diplomats from time to time,” the minister added.
It is clear that top on the agenda of Talbott was to clear the atmosphere in Indo-US relations. Thanks to the media reactions to Ms. Robin Raphel’s statements on Kashmir, the Americans are now clearly inclined to keep in mind popular feelings before articulating or initiating any policy to- wards India. Although the media had at times overreacted, Khursheed confessed that “it had helped us.”
Significantly, Kashmir was barely discussed at any level during Talbott’s brief sojourn in the Indian capital. Unlike in the recent past when it seem as though Kashmir was the main focus of Indo- US relations, it along with the general human rights question figured very low in Talbott’s discussions with the Indian officials.
On the other hand nonproliferation figured prominently, though Khursheed added that nonproliferation was not viewed through the prism of the F16 issue, imply- ing therefore, that India is not un- happy with the American delinking of its nonproliferation concerns vis-a-vis India and Pakistan.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 15, 1994
